Cultivate with love

Today, we’ll be discussing the book Grow Organic from Mama Publishing, written by Karel Schelfhout (an author who for three decades has played a leading role in the dissemination of advanced gardening techniques used in organic farming) and Michiel Panhuysen (a journalist published in several languages who specialises in urban gardens and organic gardens); the illustrator Denis Lelièvre, known as “Pic”, is a sculptor, gardener and author of comic strips.

This book is as enriching as it is innovative, not only because of its original comic format, but also because of its very practical and current theme. It presents us with innovative ideas and techniques, protagonists in the current ecological movement and tools that will enhance the good work of the grower, proceeding with revolutionary methods which lead to the production of healthy plants that will be a godsend for.

In the preface to this book written by Michka (whom we consider to be a widely known cannabis personality and the founder of Mama Publishing), we can read such inspiring words as, “everything is interconnected. We are one. Nature is not distinct from us; we are not distinct from nature […] ; home gardeners also want to cultivate plants without toxic residue and grow food they can eat with pride. They want their produce to contribute to their health as well as that of the planet.”

This book has been catalogued as the bible of current ecological agriculture. The comic contributes to the didactic transmission in an easy, simplified and transgressive way, with innovative techniques and unprecedented findings, presented through colourful vignettes, that become accessible and easy to understand for any of us (even if we lack experience in agriculture or gardening). We are increasingly aware of ecological reconversion and, using humour, precision and audacity, this book presents us with keys that are essential in the field of eco-responsible self-cultivation.

This fun and entertaining cartoon takes us chapter by chapter through the main concepts in order to enable us to carry out our cultivation – for instance, how to prepare our garden to turn it into an ecological garden and collecting the essential elements that will be part of this process – in a way that allows us to control the ecosystem we’ll enter to play an important role, such as that of “grower”. We’ll learn everything necessary about humus, seeds, insects, worms and other co-inhabitants of the land, as well as the most beneficial practices for each type of crop and the ecosystem, and concepts such as bokashi compost and biodynamics, permaculture and bioponics.

In today’s society, the impact on trends in the consumption of organic products is still limited since competing with the prices of non-organic products is complicated. But, above all, there’s a need to bear in mind the fundamental element of consumer awareness. Only a few venture into tasks such as those related to horticulture and, more specifically, with agroecological movements. Fortunately, this awareness is growing – the eco-responsible farming model will be shown to be the only truly sustainable one in the long-term, and the model that will need to be expanded before the imminent climate crisis.

There are many of us who are joining this current trend, illustrating a great interest in returning to the countryside in terms of responsible consumption based on horizontality and cooperation. And a growing interest of the general population in consumption and production of more natural, ecological and environmentally friendly products is more evident, so we can say that sustainable development is flourishing. There are also many young people who venture into self-cultivation in a small garden as a cultivation process with a conscience and, above all, savouring every moment of the process – from germination and sowing to flowering and harvesting, taking into account that it will also bring great advantages to the soil, the environment and our planet. Particularly in these changing times, this is recommended reading which allows us to reflect on the type of life we ​​choose, and which can undoubtedly help us to turn our health and well-being around.